WASHINGTON, June 16, 2010  The Defense Department stands firmly behind the new Strategic Arms Control and National Security Treaty, which strengthens strategic stability, enables the United States to modernize its triad of strategic delivery systems and protects its flexibility to deploy important nuclear and non-nuclear capabilities, a senior defense official told Congress yesterday.

The treaty, which President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed April 8 in Prague, is framed to address specific Defense Department issues, Edward Warner, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates representative to the post-START negotiations, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Nothing in the new Strategic Arms Control and National Security Treaty will constrain the United States from developing and deploying the most effective missile defenses possible to protect the homeland, its forces abroad and its partners and allies, he said.

Protecting our ability to develop and deploy the most effective missile defenses possible was one of the most important U.S. objectives during the treaty negotiations, and we did so, Warner said.

The new START treaty wont limit the United States ability to pursue its current and planned ballistic missile defense program, he told the committee. The one exception would be a ban on the conversion of launchers for intercontinental ballistic missiles or sea-launched ballistic missiles for use as missile defense interceptor launchers, or vice versa. The treaty also will allow the United States to develop defenses to protect the U.S. homeland from limited missile attack and its partners and allies from growing regional ballistic missile threats, Warner said. He assured the committee that the treaty will not impose additional costs or burdens on these missile defense efforts.

In negotiating a new treaty to replace the START treaty that expired in April 2009, the United States also sought to limit and reduce U.S. and Russian strategic offensive arms, Warner said, while at the same time preserving strategic stability that provides predictability and an effective verification system.

The treaty also affords the United States the freedom to deploy, maintain and modernize its forces, he said.

Warner noted the Defense Departments plan to invest more than $100 billion over the next decade to sustain and modernize its strategic nuclear delivery systems. The Energy Department also plans to invest more than $80 billion to sustain and modernize the nuclear weapons stockpile and the nuclear weapons complex that supports it, he said.

The administration also was intent on protecting the United States ability to develop and deploy conventional prompt global strike systems, Warner told the panel. The Defense Departments leadership is confident that provisions in the treaty accommodate those requirements for the treatys 10-year lifetime, he said.

Warner also expressed support for the verification framework encompassed in the treaty, which provides both parties up to 18 short-notice, on-site inspections each year.

Speaking from a military perspective, Warner called verification very, very important. He noted that current information becomes increasingly dated with each passing day.

The insights that are available to us [with verification procedures in place] cannot be overestimated, he said. We need to get back into the position where we will have those insights available to us.

Statement by the Press Secretary on the Visit of President Medvedev of the Russian Federation to the White House

President Obama is pleased to welcome President Dmitriy Medvedev of the Russian Federation to the United States on June 22-24.

Over the last eighteen months, the United States and Russia have made significant strides in resetting relations between our two countries in ways that advance our mutual interests. Since first meeting in London in April 2009, President Obama and President Medvedev have collaborated closely to enhance the security and well-being of the American and Russian people, including the expansion of the Northern Distribution Network, which supplies our troops in Afghanistan; the signing of the New START Treaty, which reduces our nuclear arsenals, enhances transparency about our strategic forces, and demonstrates U.S. and Russian leadership in support of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; new sanctions against North Korea, designed to compel North Korea to adhere to its international obligations; the full and active pursuit of the dual track strategy that seeks Irans compliance with its international obligations regarding its nuclear program, including most recently UN Security Council Resolution 1929; and the creation of a Bilateral President Commission, which has expanded dramatically the interactions among Americans and Russians on a whole range of issues, including emergency disaster response, space, counternarcotics, counterterrorism, energy efficiency, and trade and investment, among others.

President Obama looks forward to using this next meeting with President Medvedev to explore possible avenues of greater cooperation regarding trade, investment and innovation. The two Presidents will hold a bilateral meeting at the White House on June 24, where they will discuss these issues, as well as other issues of mutual concern leading into the G-8 and G-20 meetings. In conjunction with the visit, Russian and American business leaders , as well as American and Russian civil society leaders, will be holding their own meetings in Washington. As President Medvedev seeks to promote innovation and modernization in Russia, President Obama is pleased that the Russian President will begin his trip to the United States by visiting the Silicon Valley, and have the opportunity to review the unique set of factors that has fostered this important center of technological advancement and entrepreneurship.

For Immediate Release June 11, 2010
Statement by the President on Russia Day

On behalf of the American people, I extend my best wishes to all those who observe Russia Day. On June 12, 1992, the first Congress of the Russian Federation declared a new sovereign nation. But the relationship between our peoples goes back much further. This year, we celebrated the 65th Anniversary of the end of World War II, and it was the joint Allied forces that defeated fascism. Today, our two nations continue in our strong partnership, mutual respect and friendship, and I am proud of the new START Treaty and our joint efforts to reduce our nuclear arsenals. Beyond that, our two nations continue to expand our commercial and economic ties. Here in America, many Americans can trace their origins to Russia, and all of them are an important part of our national identity.

SNIPPET: FRANKFURTGerman prosecutors are investigating whether Russias main nuclear exporter broke European rules by routing Iran-bound cargo through European incident that diplomats say turned into a major battleground as world powers hashed out international sanctions against Iran.

The shipments wouldnt break sanctions agreed on at the United Nations, including new rules approved Wednesday.

SNIPPET: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that Moscow was in talks on building further nuclear power plants in Iran  a step that, if followed through, would rile the West  in addition to the Bushehr site, due to open in August after years of delay.

Lavrovs statement came just hours after Russias Foreign Ministry said the new UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program did not oblige Moscow to scrap a controversial deal to deliver surface-to-air missiles to Tehran.

The U.S. State Department said on Friday that the delivery of Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran is not against the recently imposed UN sanctions.

The Resolution 1929, adopted on Wednesday, imposes the fourth round of sanctions against Iran, including tougher financial controls and an expanded arms embargo. It also imposes an asset ban and a travel freeze on more than three dozen companies and individuals.

The [Resolution] 1929 prohibits the sale and transfer of items on the U.S. Register of Conventional Arms, which does not include the S-300. That said, this is a sale that Russia concluded with Iran a number of years ago and Russia has exercised responsibility and restraint and has not, at this point, delivered those missiles to Iran, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told a daily press briefing.

He said that the Resolution 1929 is aimed at strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime and provides a framework for addressing nuclear non-proliferation concerns of the global community.

So we are looking for a strong, united international response to make it clear to Iran that it will pay a price for its current course and that it should  based on this pressure, that it will begin to feel  very quickly change course, he added.

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2010  President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Prague today, with both countries pledging to reduce their deployed, strategic nuclear weapons stockpiles. Video

The so-called New START sets new limits on ready-to-use, long-range nuclear weapons and establishes comprehensive verification procedures for both countries to verify which weapons the other possesses.

Today is an important milestone for nuclear security and nonproliferation, and for U.S.-Russia relations, Obama said at todays signing ceremony, where he was joined by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and National Security Advisor James L. Jones Jr.

While setting significant reductions in the nuclear weapons both nations will deploy and reducing their delivery vehicles by about half, the president said, the treaty recognizes the deterrent value these weapons play.

It enables both sides the flexibility to protect our security, as well as Americas unwavering commitment to the security of our European allies, he said in his prepared remarks.

Todays ceremony represents a step toward fulfilling the long-term goal Obama expressed a year ago in Prague of stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and ultimately eliminating them.

I believed then  as I do now  that the pursuit of that goal will move us further beyond the Cold War, strengthen the global nonproliferation regime and make the United States, and the world, safer and more secure, he said today in Prague.

Obama called the spread of nuclear weapons to more states and nonstate actors an unacceptable risk to global security. New START, along with the new Nuclear Posture Statement released earlier this week, demonstrates the United States commitment to stopping proliferation, he said.

The new treaty also makes good on his commitment to reset U.S. relations with Russia, Obama said, so the two countries can build trust as they work together for the benefit of both nations and the world.

This day demonstrates the determination of the United States and Russia  the two nations that hold over 90 percent of the worlds nuclear weapons  to pursue responsible global leadership, he said. Together, we are keeping our commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which must be the foundation of global nonproliferation.

The new START treaty sets the stage for talks about further reducing both countries strategic and tactical weapons, including non-deployed ones, he said.

Obama and Medvedev agreed in Prague to expand their discussions about missile defense, including regular information exchanges about threat assessments and a joint assessment of emerging ballistic missiles.

As these assessments are completed, I look forward to launching a serious dialogue about Russian-American cooperation on missile defense, Obama said.

Obama emphasized that nuclear weapons are not just an issue for the United States and Russia.

They threaten the common security of all nations, he said. A nuclear weapon in the hands of a terrorist is a danger to people everywhere.

He noted that representatives of 47 nations will meet in Washington next week to discuss concrete steps that, if taken, will secure vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years.

After Congress ratifies it, the New START treaty will replace the previous treaty that expired Dec. 5.

WASHINGTON, June 16, 2010  The leaders of U.S. Strategic Command and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency told a Senate committee today that they were closely involved in developing the new Strategic Arms Control and National Security Treaty, and that they believe it will make the United States and its allies safer.

I was fully consulted in the negotiation process, and I fully support [the treaty], Air Force Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, Stratcom commander, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a hearing on the new START treaty.

Three ways the treaty will make the United States safer if its ratified, Chilton said, is by limiting the number of Russian warheads and vehicles that can target the United States, allowing sufficient flexibility for the United States to retain and use its arsenal, and re-establishing verification and transparency of weapons that ended when the previous treaty expired in April 2009.

What we want is transparency and insight to know that either side is complying with the treaty, Chilton said. I would worry about any ability for Russia to make strategically significant changes [to its arsenal] that we dont detect and couldnt respond to.

President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the treaty in Prague on April 8. Since then, Defense Department leaders have spoken out in support of it on Capitol Hill where some lawmakers have voiced concern that it will weaken U.S. defenses or allow Russia an arms advantage.

Chilton, along with James N. Miller Jr., principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, and Army Lt. Gen. Patrick J. OReilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency, tried to allay those concerns in todays testimony.

This treaty does not constrain any current [U.S.] missile defense plans, Chilton said. Americas nuclear arsenal remains a vital pillar of U.S. national security.

Asked whether the treaty undermines security by not allowing the United States to convert offensive missile launchers to defensive launchers, OReilly said he wouldnt do that anyway, because it is not prudent or operationally effective.

I do not see any limitation on my ability to develop missile defenses, OReilly said. The options that are prohibited are not ones I would choose or any other director would choose, because it would make us less effective. I see no limitations to us for the plans we are pursuing.

The treatys limits of 1,550 warheads will allow the United States to sustain effective nuclear deterrence, including a second strike capability. Its limit of 700 deployed intercontinental and submarine-launch ballistic missiles and heavy bombers will allow the United States to retain a robust triad.
Also, by providing the freedom to mix strategic forces, the treaty allows for the rebalancing of weapons over time.

The United States can and will continue to expand and improve missile defenses, Miller said. The department is studying the appropriate mix of long-range strike capabilities and will include its conclusions in the fiscal 2012 budget request, he said. Any deployment of ballistic missiles should be limited to niche capabilities, he added.

The new START treaty does not in any way constrain the U.S. from deploying the most effective nuclear defenses possible, Miller said. It allows for the defense of the nation, as well as our forces and allies abroad.

Chilton said the U.S. nuclear arsenal today is safe, secure and effective, but also is in need of maintenance. The Defense Department plans to invest $100 billion over the next decade to sustain and modernize its strategic nuclear delivery systems, while the Energy Department plans to invest $80 billion to sustain and modernize the nuclear stockpile and weapons complex, he said.
These investments are not only important, they are essential in my view, Chilton said.

Message from the President on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Russian Highly Enriched Uranium

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the emergency declared in Executive Order 13159 of June 21, 2000, with respect to the risk of nuclear proliferation created by the accumulation of a large volume of weapons-usable fissile material in the territory of the Russian Federation is to continue beyond June 21, 2010.

It remains a major national security goal of the United States to ensure that fissile material removed from Russian nuclear weapons pursuant to various arms control and disarmament agreements is dedicated to peaceful uses, subject to transparency measures, and protected from diversion to activities of proliferation concern. The accumulation of a large volume of weapons-usable fissile material in the territory of the Russian Federation continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. For this reason, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared with respect to the risk of nuclear proliferation created by the accumulation of a large volume of weapons-usable fissile material in the territory of the Russian Federation and maintain in force these emergency authorities to respond to this threat.

For Immediate Release June 17, 2010
Notice from the President on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Russian Highly Enriched Uranium

NOTICE

- - - - - - -

CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT
TO THE RISK OF NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION CREATED BY THE
ACCUMULATION OF WEAPONS-USABLE FISSILE MATERIAL IN THE
TERRITORY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

On June 21, 2000, the President issued Executive Order 13159 (the order) blocking property and interests in property of the Government of the Russian Federation that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons that are directly related to the implementation of the Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation Concerning the Disposition of Highly Enriched Uranium Extracted from Nuclear Weapons, dated February 18, 1993, and related contracts and agreements (collectively, the HEU Agreements). The HEU Agreements allow for the downblending of highly enriched uranium derived from nuclear weapons to low enriched uranium for peaceful commercial purposes. The order invoked the authority, inter alia, of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706) and declared a national emergency to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by the risk of nuclear proliferation created by the accumulation of a large volume of weapons-usable fissile material in the territory of the Russian Federation.

The national emergency declared on June 21, 2000, must continue beyond June 21, 2010, to provide continued protection from attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process for the property and interests in property of the Government of the Russian Federation that are directly related to the implementation of the HEU Agreements and subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to the risk of nuclear proliferation created by the accumulation of weapons-usable fissile material in the territory of the Russian Federation. This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2010  Ratification of the new Strategic Arms Control and National Security Treaty would give the United States the most-detailed look possible into Russias strategic nuclear forces, Pentagon officials told a Senate panel yesterday.

James N. Miller, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, and Kenneth A. Myers III, director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and U.S. Strategic Commands Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction, were the latest senior Defense Department officials to testify before Congress in favor of the treatys ratification. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the treaty on April 8.

Miller and Myers told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the treatys provisions for on-site inspections are an improvement on the previous START treaty. And, its critical to resume such inspections, the two officials said, since the previous treaty expired in April 2009.

Miller said on-site inspections provide the cornerstone of the treatys verification regime, allowing U.S. inspectors into some of Russias most-sensitive facilities.

This, in turn, will establish a strong disincentive to Russian cheating, he said. More broadly, these inspections and exhibitions will give us a detailed picture of Russias strategic delivery systems and associated infrastructure.
The treaty allows the United States and Russia to conduct as many as 18 short-notice, on-site inspections each year, with as many as 10 Type 1 inspections, which focus on strategic systems, such as ICBMs, submarines and bombers, and up to eight Type 2 inspections, which cover storage sites, test ranges and other facilities, Miller said.

On-site inspections work in synergy with other elements of the treaty, including data exchanges on the technical characteristics, locations, and distribution of weapons, Miller said. Under the treaty, any changes in the status of strategic systems must be reported through timely notifications and biannual reports, he said.

On-site inspections will confirm that information, including the conversion or elimination of systems, Miller said.

Inspections will not be shots in the dark, he said. We can choose to inspect those facilities of greatest interest to us.

If the United States has concerns or sees ambiguities in Russias reported data, U.S. officials will be able to raise them through a bilateral commission, or pursue the matter at higher levels, Miller said.

Myers, a former staff member of the committee, said the new treaty improves on the previous one by reducing the types of on-site inspections from nine to two, and by not providing for a baseline inspection of every facility. In negotiating the new treaty, both sides agreed that it would not be necessary to conduct baseline inspections at facilities that had been subject to inspection under the previous treaty, he said.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency will staff, train, equip, and lead U.S. inspection teams in Russia and escort Russian inspectors at U.S. facilities, Myers said. The agency, based at Fort Belvoir, Va., will maintain detachments at Yokota Air Base, Japan, and Travis Air Force Base, Calif., as well as at its division in Darmstadt, Germany, he said.

Under the treaty, 35 facilities in Russia and 17 in the United States would be subject to inspections, Myers said. Russian inspectors would be permitted entry into the United States via Washington and San Francisco, escorted by DTRA officials, he said. Each side would have to give 32 hours notice during normal working hours before a short-notice inspection.

While the new treaty allows for fewer inspections than the previous one, Myers said, inspections of weapons systems will be more difficult. DTRA already is training inspection and escort personnel on the provisions of the new treaty, and their initial certifications are under way, he said.

We will be prepared to carry out all of its inspection and escort provisions with the utmost accuracy and efficiency, Myers told the committee.

If ratified, the new treaty would be carried out in conjunction with the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, a 20-year-old effort to advance nuclear non-proliferation around the world, Miller said. As of June 21, the program has supported the elimination of 783 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 672 ICBM launchers; 651 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and 476 SLBM launchers; 155 heavy bombers; 906 air-to-surface missiles; and deactivation of 7,545 nuclear warheads.

The CTR program has made a tremendous contribution to U.S. national security and will continue to do so under the new START treaty, Miller said. Biological threat reduction now comprises 40 percent of the programs budget, he added.

The new treaty and the CTR program together are critical to national security, Miller said.

This level of detailed information on Russian strategic forces could simply not be accumulated in the absence of a treaty verification regime, he said. The new START, if ratified, will promote transparency and help avoid worst-case assumptions and planning.

If ratified, this agreement will advance some of our most critical national security objectives. It will provide stability and predictability between the worlds two leading nuclear powers, reducing the number of nuclear weapons held by the United States and Russia to a level not seen since the 1950s while retaining a safe and effective deterrent. It will restore crucial inspection and verification mechanisms that ceased when the original START agreement expired last year, allowing U.S. inspectors back inside Russian nuclear weapons silos. And it will help keep nuclear material from falling into the hands of terrorists or rogue regimes.

The committees vote today continues a decades-long tradition of senators from both parties providing advice and consent on arms control accords. We especially appreciate the leadership of Chairman Kerry and Ranking Member Lugar in undertaking a thorough review of the treaty and developing the resolution of ratification that led to todays successful vote.

Like previous arms control treaties, the New START Treaty deserves broad bipartisan support and prompt ratification by the full Senate. We urge Senators to act quickly and approve this treaty.

The Obama administration is secretly working with Russia to conclude an agreement that many officials fear will limit U.S. missile defenses, a key objective of Moscow since it opposed plans for a U.S. missile defense interceptor base in Eastern Europe, according to American officials involved in arms control issues.

According to the officials, the administration last month presented a draft agreement on missile defenses to the Russians as part of talks between Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary of state for international security and arms control, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Rybakov.

“Giving Away the Farm
The Obama administration is freely giving Russia sensitive information about missile defense that weakens U.S. national security.”

BY R. JAMES WOOLSEY, REBECCAH HEINRICHS
JUNE 7, 2011

SNIPPET: “President Barack Obama’s administration recently threatened to veto the defense budget, citing “serious concerns” over provisions that limit the U.S. missile defense know-how that the White House is permitted to share with Moscow. This is the sort of information that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in his earlier days, would have assigned his spies to steal. Through its single-minded pursuit of “resetting” relations with Russia, the Obama administration may simply be willing to hand over this information and, in doing so, weaken U.S. national security.”

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